In the field of packaging it is often required to provide consumers with a package comprising multiple primary product containers. Such multi-packs are desirable for shipping and distribution and for display of promotional information. For cost and environmental considerations, such cartons or carriers need to be formed from as little material as possible and cause as little wastage in the materials from which they are formed as possible. Another consideration is the strength of the packaging and its suitability for holding and transporting large weights of articles.
It is desirable to provide a carrier or carton with a partition structure to divide the carrier into cells each for accommodating an individual primary product container. In this way, each primary product container is separated or spaced from its adjacent neighbours and each primary product container is protected against “knocking damage” which can occur when adjacent primary product containers knock against one another when the package is moved. It is desirable to provide the carrier with a handle structure such that a consumer may readily transport the package; such handles should be strong enough to bear the load of the primary product containers. It is desirable to form such a carrier from a foldable sheet of material, preferably a recyclable material.
It is further beneficial to minimise the area and footprint of such a sheet of material in order to maximise the number of carriers that can be made from a standard sized sheet of material.
The present invention seeks to overcome or at least mitigate the problems of the prior art.